ComScore: Android remains on top in the US, but iOS makes gains

Google and Apple continue their significant lead over other platforms

After months of increasing growth, Android has hit a small bump in the road. The latest comScore data for the US shows a decrease in Android's market share by 2 points between November 2012 and February 2013, falling to a total of 51.7%. During the same time, iOS climbed 3.9 points to a total of 38.9%. Microsoft also saw a small increase in mobile OS market share, while Blackberry continued to lose footing. Growth was stagnant for Symbian, showing no change whatsoever. When worldwide market share is considered, Android holds a commanding 70-percent of the market.

With Android's significant lead over the number 2 platform (iOS), it's going to take a lot more than a small fluctuation or two to close the lead on between Google and Apple. However, a few more fluctuations in the next comScore reports would not be surprising. We're just over a month away to see what changes to Android Google has up its sleeve, and rumors are already flying about huge changes to iOS this year.

On the hardware front, Apple continued to move forward as it remained in the top spot, while Samsung finished with a strong second place. With a 3.9 point increase, Apple now has 38.9% market share as an OEM. Samsung totals out at 21.3%, thanks to a 1 point increase. HTC, Motorola, and LG were not so fortunate from November 2012 to February 2013, with each seeing a slight market share decrease.

Things are going to get interesting for top OEMs in the coming months, with the immanent release of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and Apple's newest iPhone(s). Will Samsung's 'Experience Shops' and its newest flagship phone be enough to overtake Apple in the near future? I'm sure Samsung is betting on it. How will your dollars be voting? Hit the comments to let us know.

If you assume the market stayed the same size (just for the sake of discussion), then Android lost (100% - (51.7/53.7)) = 3.7% of their subscribers.

BlackBerry lost (100% - (5.4/7.3)) = 26% of their subscribers.

Android lost 3.7% and BlackBerry lost 26%. That's not really so surprising, is it?

In other words, BlackBerry did not lose 2% of their subscribers. They lost 2% of the MARKET. Their piece of the market is so small that 2% of that represents 26% of their subscribers. So, dropping from 7.3% to 5.4% is a pretty darn big loss.

Of course, I think the market actually grew during that same time, so BlackBerry's number of subscribers would not have actually dropped by 26%. But, the market didn't increase by a HUGE amount, so they still lost a bunch.

THIS. Blackberry isn't really hemorrhaging subscribers, they only really did that for a brief period as Android hit the scene and BB fans reeled from the miserable failure that was the BB Storm. Since then, they have had OK subscriber numbers, but the rest of the market is growing so goddamn fast (2 million new smartphone activations PER DAY) that they can't possibly keep up.

I'm finally getting sick of Android. I'm getting sick of not getting Google services offered in the US (Wallet, Voice, Music) that have easily available Apple equivalents (Passbook, iTunes) or in many cases have Google's own apps that are just as good (Maps, Chrome, GMail).

What's the point of staying with Android if I know I can get an iPhone, have all the same services, Apple support (no Android OEM comes close to being able to walk in to an Apple store), and a great secondary ecosystem (cases, accessories, etc.).

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